Between Two Winds
by Takianna
Summary: Obidala for the 10th anniversary of the Obidala fan forums. Waiting is sometimes the hardest thing when a heart is seeking another heart to beat beside it.


_We exist between two winds,_

 _I here under a pale moon_

 _you, the other end of somewhere._

 **From Whispers in the Wind**

 **By Orania Hamilton**

"Do you require anything before I retire, Milady?" Dorme asked from over Padme's shoulder. Padme couldn't pry her eyes from the beautiful dance of lights spread out across Coruscant's sky for long enough to answer. She did her best thinking here, on her balcony. with the lights of the traffic and the comfort of the jedi temple not far away.

Thinking was important for her now because if she thought hard enough, maybe he would hear her and come home. She knew it was a stupid idea, but she had to try. There had to be some hope for her, for them.

"No thank you Dorme," she finally said, her words barely a whisper, afraid to disturb the thrum of the traffic in the night sky and put her chances in jeopardy of one of those vehicles bringing him to her apartment.

The wind blew lightly and Padme felt the wispy fabric of her night shift rise and then fall against her bare skin. She knew she should have on something to keep her warm, but she didn't feel like moving to find a robe or wrap. This was where she did her best thinking and it was the only place where she could see the descent lanes for the larger ships from their docking point around the planet.

"You know they haven't even docked yet. It may be hours," Dorme said from behind her again. Her protector and handmaiden was always the voice of reason in her sometimes chaotic world.

"I know," Padme said quietly. She always knew it would be late, but still her heart called for her to wait as though she was waiting for a sailor to come home from a day of fishing. It would be very late before his booted feet sounded against the polished marble of her balcony, but she had to wait. There was nothing else for her to do now.

"Don't stay up too long," Dorme said and sighed. Padme knew this was the same argument they always had when the Negotiator was schedule to return to the capital planet. It didn't matter if she missed a few hours of sleep, because he had spent months losing sleep and putting his life in danger.

Her little vigil was nothing compared to his sacrifice.

The wind lifted her shift again and she braced herself against the gradually chilling air of the night. On the other end of the wind was Obi-wan and she knew she had to wait.

Minutes turned to hours and Padme finally succumb to the aching in her legs and the chill of her exposed limbs. She climbed onto one of the large padded benches at the edge of the balcony and curled beneath a blanket. Her eyes fluttered shut.

"So eager to see me," was the next sound she heard and it startled her awake. Obi-wan's smiling face greeted her and she took both her hands and touched his cheeks feeling the chill of the night air on his skin. She had to make sure she was not dreaming again and that he was really standing on her balcony, talking to her.

"You're home," she whispered definitively and let the tears start to roll down her cheeks. They were tears of happiness and sadness at the time they spent apart.

"I'm home. Please don't cry."

The words from his lips were sincere as he lifted her from the bench and embraced her tightly against his armor, the plates digging into her soft flesh, but she didn't care. She was thankful her dreams were not playing with her again. It had been many months where she dreamed he was standing in that exact spot and her heart was ripped out when she woke to loneliness.

Pulling away from him, she inspected him. His armor was smeared with blood near the midsection and her face twisted into a look of horror.

"You're hurt," she said tears welling in her eyes again as she wondered what kind of pain he might be in.

"Not mine," he said and smiled at her weakly. He ran his thumb under her eyes to rid her cheeks of tears. "Anakin's."

"What?"

"He's resting now, but it was touch and go until we got back here."

"Are you okay?"

Padme knew the bond between the two jedi was far greater than anything she could share with Obi-wan. It never made her jealous. She knew Obi-wan loved the younger jedi like a son and was dedicated to making sure Qui-gon's dying wish was fulfilled through the young man.

"I'm fine. He was in a lot of pain, but Captain Rex saved the day, like he always seems to."

She wrapped her arms around him again pulling him close to her body. Her fingers lingered against his cheek, trying to remember everything about him for the next time he was gone.

"Dorme around?" he finally asked a smile spreading across his face at the mention of the other woman's name.

"She is but has already gone to sleep," Padme said. "What do you have in mind?"

"Oh I just wanted to make sure we were free and clear," Obi-wan said as the smile turned up even more at the corners giving him an impish look.

"Master Kenobi," Padme smirked. "I think you have been alone too long."

"Yeah stuck on a cruiser with a bunch of guys and a Togruta female," Obi-wan chuckled. "It's been a real nightmare."

The words were in jest, but Padme knew how Obi-wan felt about fighting. The war was his nightmare and it wasn't what he signed up for when he took his final trials as a jedi. He never spoke of leaving it behind though. He felt responsible for making sure the jedi order continued to thrive throughout the galaxy. Padme knew he wasn't personally responsible, but sometimes with leadership there comes a feeling that you have to fix everything. She just hoped he wasn't hurt when things didn't turn out as planned.

"Do you want to get cleaned up?" she finally asked not wanting to break the moment between them.

"Yes!" Obi-wan said jumping at the chance. "No water allowed on the Negotiator for the past month. I'm sick of sonic showers."

Padme laughed and took his hand, loosely intertwining her fingers through his as they walked towards her suite of rooms.

"Wait," Obi-wan stopped and tugged on her hand. "Do you know what today is?"

Padme stopped and chewed on her lips as she tried to think. It wasn't his life day, that was later in the year. It wasn't Anakin's life day, that was earlier in the year. It was close to the anniversary of Master Jinn's passing and the liberation of Naboo, but that was still two weeks away. She already had a trip booked to return home for the celebration and to make an appearance.

"I don't," she finally said looking at him. A smile danced in his eyes at the secret he knew that she didn't seem to be able to remember.

"This is the anniversary of our meeting for the first time," he said and smiled.

"You remember that?"

"Of course because I almost got killed. That tends to make you remember dates."

She smiled and then stood on her tip toes to kiss his lips. They were warm and salty just as she remembered in her dreams. It was something she missed.

"That was a very long time ago," he said, his voice low as though he was lost in the memory.

"It's only been better since," she said and tried to smile.

"You call this better? A war we will never win and people being slaughtered senselessly?"

"That's not what I mean."

"I know Padme."

She took his hand again and pulled him towards her room. Padme closed the door behind them and watched as Obi-wan started to strip out of his armor. Plates rattled against the marble floor as he let them drop around his feet.

"So this is how you get undressed now?" she laughed. Obi-wan was usually so precise and neat, but some of Anakin must be rubbing off on him now as the clothes continued to pile around his feet.

"I don't feel like being neat," he laughed and pulled his boots off.

"I can tell."

Padme watched and admired as muscles moved under skin while he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Wait stop," she said noticing a patch of red on his back.

"What?"

"You have blood on your back," she said and pushed him around so she could see his back. There was a dried patch of blood around the kidney area on the right hand side. Obi-wan craned his neck to see where she was studying.

"You got hit. Come in the refresher and let me clean it off."

Padme gathered some supplies and cleaned the area. In the middle was a small piece of what looked like wood. It's brown color standing out against the skin. It was a dart of some sort, piercing Obi-wan's skin.

"There is something here in the middle," she said and started to probe at it with her fingers.

"Don't take it out," Obi-wan said.

"Why not?"

"Because, if you take it out, the poison will spread into my system and I could die."

"You knew about this?"

"I know other people have been hit with it. These people weren't playing by our rules Padme. They were out to kill all of us and were using any means necessary."

"If you leave it in it will get infected."

"I wanted to see you before they took it out. I had to know that if something happens to me, you are okay and at least I got to kiss you again."

Tears were immediate as Obi-wan turned around to hold her close against his bare chest. She inhaled the smell of him trying to commit it to memory.

"Why?" Padme sobbed.

"We almost lost Anakin because I was too quick to pull the dart out of him," Obi-wan explained, not letting her go. "The poison is treatable, if you can get to it quickly enough. I just wanted to make sure that if they couldn't get to it, I got to see you."

"When are they taking it out?"

"I told them I was going to get cleaned up and then the healers at the temple are going to remove the dart."

"I want to be there."

Obi-wan sighed. This was when things got sticky because they really couldn't be there for each other like most couples. There was always the barrier of secrecy.

"You can come to the temple and visit Anakin during my procedure," Obi-wan said, the solution simple for them both. "No one will suspect anything you are visiting an old friend."

"I hate this Obi-wan."

"I do too."

"Promise me you will be fine."

"I can't make those promises, but I promise I love you."

"We will always have to exist between two winds, won't we?"

Obi-wan said nothing and held Padme closer to him. She could hear his heart beating and knew it was beating only for her.


End file.
